Monkeypox suspect tests negative, fresh case in Khammam

KHAMMAM/HYDERABAD: A 40-year-old patient from Kamareddy who was suspected of having monkeypox tested negative for the virus. However, another case of suspected monkeypox was reported in Khammam district at the same time.

Samples of the patient undergoing isolation at the Government Fever Hospital in the city were sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune, where the samples tested negative for the virus on Tuesday, said Director of Public Health Dr G. Srinivasa Rao. According to sources, doctors at the Fever Hospital are under the impression that the patient may be infected with chickenpox, which also causes lesions on the body.

The patient, who returned from Kuwait on July 6, developed the symptoms on July 20 in Kamareddy. After a doctor at a private clinic suspected him of having monkeypox, the patient was directed to the Kamareddy Government Hospital, from where he was sent to Fever Hospital, the nodal centre for monkeypox in the state.

The second suspected case of monkeypox was reported at Arempula in Khammam Rural mandal on Tuesday. The patient, a native of Uttar Pradesh and a worker in a granite factory, suffered some symptoms similar to monkeypox, including small red blisters on his body and fever, following which he went to a private hospital.

The doctors at the hospital informed the Khammam district medical and health officer (DMHO) G. Malathi about the patient. The patient was then immediately sent to the district headquarters hospital in Khammam, where doctors conducted some tests.

Superintendent of the hospital Venkateswarlu said the patient had symptoms similar to those caused by monkeypox, but they could not come to a conclusion at present. “We are not ready to take the risk at this hour and are shifting the patient to the Government Fever Hospital in Hyderabad, where further tests will be conducted. If necessary, the blood samples will be sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune,” he said.

Until Tuesday, four cases of the virus, declared a ‘global health emergency’ by the World Health Organisation (WHO), have been confirmed in the country — three in Kerala and one in Delhi. The patient in Delhi has no history of recent international travel, unlike the three in Kerala.